It is believed that this appointment came in response to the election of 36-year-old Lee Jun-seok to the leadership of the opposition People Power Party:
Park Seong-min, the newly appointed presidential secretary for youth-related affairs. Her appointment has raised fairness issues among young people.
Cheong Wa Dae’s appointment of a 25-year-old as a presidential secretary has created stir among politicians and citizens. While the presidential office tried to demonstrate its efforts to meet young people’s needs by appointing the political rookie to the high-ranking position, many citizens ― especially young ones ― view the appointment as “unfair” amid the reality where it is difficult for the majority of young people to get a job despite years of struggle.
On Monday, Cheong Wa Dae announced Park Seong-min’s appointment as the secretary for youth-related affairs, a newly created position.
Park was one of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) spokespeople representing young members, and was picked as a member of the party’s Supreme Council last August by then-party Chairman Lee Nak-yon. Still studying at Korea University, Park plans to request a leave of absence from the university soon, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
She will get a salary and other perks equivalent to those of first-level government officials in the nine-tier public servant system, in which the first-level is the top level.
You can read more at the link, but Lee Jun-seok was elected into Parliament a decade ago and worked his way up through the ranks to his current position. This is in contrast to Park Seong-min who has not been elected to anything and yet was appointed to her position.
Here is the latest shake up in the South Korean government:
From left are Chung Eui-yong, named as foreign minister, Hwang Hee, tapped as culture minister, and Kwon Chil-seung, nominated as SMEs and startups minister, in a combination of photos provided by Cheong Wa Dae. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
President Moon Jae-in has picked Chung Eui-yong, former director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, as his new foreign minister, Moon’s office announced Wednesday.
He also nominated Hwang Hee, a ruling Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker, as culture minister and Kwon Chil-seung, another DP lawmaker, as SMEs and startups minister in a partial Cabinet reshuffle, according to Chung Man-ho, senior presidential secretary for public communication.
The nominees face confirmation hearings at the National Assembly, the dates of which have yet to be set.
If appointed, Chung will replace Kang Kyung-wha, who has served as Moon’s first foreign minister.
Chung had worked as Moon’s top security adviser for three years since the launch of the Moon administration in May 2017.
President Moon and his Democrat Party keeps dropping in the approval ratings, but the Korean conservatives have yet to offer someone as their counter to him to capitalize on his unpopularity:
President Moon Jae-in’s job approval rating has fallen to a record low of 37.4 percent, a poll showed Thursday, with a rift between the justice minister and the top prosecutor deepening and housing prices in major areas continuing to rise.
Public approval for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) also dropped to 28.9 percent, the lowest since the launch of the Moon administration in May 2017, while that of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) rose to 31.2 percent, according to Realmeter.
Now the Korean left appears to be willing to throw Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae under the bus in order to get rid of Yoon Seok-youl:
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae leaves the Government Complex Seoul after attending a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday.
With the Choo-Yoon conflicts becoming a political burden on the administration, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, during a meeting with the President, Monday, reportedly said Yoon’s voluntary resignation may be inevitable and also implied Choo’s resignation may also be needed.
The following day Moon had a short, unscheduled meeting with Choo at Cheong Wa Dae.
It was speculated that Moon talked about a “joint resignation” of Choo and Yoon. But the ministry said Choo only reported the current situation to the President and there were no talks about resigning.
You can read more at the link, but Choo is just carrying out the Blue House’s orders to get rid of Yoon because he would not cover up corruption occurring in the Moon administration. This is the thanks she gets from her own party, be a sacrificial lamb in order to pressure Yoon to resign.
The latest attempt to take out South Korea’s Prosecutor General by the Moon administration has failed for now, but you know they will continue to go after him with everything they got:
Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl arrives at the Supreme Prosecutors Office in Seoul on Dec. 1, 2020. (Yonhap)
A Seoul court on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction requested by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over his suspension, in the first legal decision in a monthslong feud between Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and the top prosecutor.
The Seoul Administrative Court ruled that suspending Yoon from duty was tantamount to dismissing him, which damaged the prosecution’s core principles of neutrality and independence.
The injunction will remain in effect until 30 days after another court decision is made. Yoon has filed a separate lawsuit against his suspension, along with having sought a preliminary injunction.
Soon after the court’s decision came out, Yoon arrived for work at the Supreme Prosecutors Office.
“I will do my best to safeguard the spirits of the Constitution and rule of law,” he said before heading to his office for the first time in a week.
The Moon administration wants everyone to believe that the President did not know anything about the Justice Ministers attempt to oust the Prosecutor General for daring to investigate Blue House corruption:
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae is surrounded by reporters at the National Assembly, Tuesday, without answering questions over her conflict with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl. Yonhap
Moon’s silence is widely seen as supporting Choo’s handling of the conflict with the top prosecutor, who, according to the minister, has not only committed various misdeeds but also violated the political neutrality required of a senior civil servant. Yoon, who has recently emerged as a favorite in polls for potential presidential candidates, has expressed, albeit tacitly, that he would consider a life in politics after his term ends in July next year.
The opposition parties are expressing their anger at the move by Choo, accusing Moon of trying to oust Yoon because he had initiated investigations into corruption allegations involving presidential aides. “The President himself should speak about the lawlessness of the justice minister,” Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), said in a statement.
Joo criticized the President for being a coward. “If the President is discontent with the prosecutor general, he should take on the political responsibility and dismiss Yoon. The suspension of the prosecutor is a very regrettable moment in our legal history. The entire administration has been mobilized to oust the prosecutor general for baseless reasons.”
Here is just another example of a governmentsmaking a grand proclamation, but put it so far out in the future that no one in power now can be held accountable for it:
Ban and Kim said the country needs a new alternative for coal and nuclear power if it is to realize the “net zero” goal by 2050. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul.
The ever-manifesting global alliance on lowering carbon emissions to curb the feared consequences of global warming has recently forced the South Korean government to announce on Oct. 28 the country would go “net zero” by 2050 ― bringing the net amount of carbon emissions to zero. The announcement came after the Moon Jae-in administration in July released the Green New Deal, a set of future-oriented policies invested with 73 trillion won ($66.2 billion) to minimize carbon emissions, as part of the game-changing Korean New Deal plan to restructure the country’s economy.
But the Green New Deal stoked doubts and drew criticism over its superficiality and lack of detailed plans, as well as its focus on job creation and the economy rather than the dire environmental concerns already affecting lives. Since then, people have demanded an incisive and critical evaluation of the country’s ongoing carbon reduction efforts that embrace both future industries and future generations. (…..)
“The Moon administration’s announcement of net zero is a welcome sign after the Green New Deal caught flak from many experts, including myself, for putting climate ambitions in the backseat to concentrate on the COVID-19-hit economy,” said Ban, now heading the National Council on Climate and Air Quality (NCCA) established in 2019 directly under President Moon. “It also seems inevitable after China and Japan announced earlier this year going net zero by 2060 and 2050, respectively, and U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden promised to push for net zero by 2050 with a $2 trillion budget and new carbon adjustment fees and return to the Paris Agreement.”
